Show Us Your Rig: Night Dive Studios' Stephen Kick

Show us your rig

Each week on Show Us Your Rig, we feature PC gaming's best and brightest as they show us the systems they use to work and play.

Stephen Kick is the CEO of Night Dive Studios, a studio primarily focused on the noble goal of making old games playable once again. It's most notably resurrected System Shock 2, the entire Humongous catalog, and recently Strife: Veteran Edition, and its first original game, Spirits of Xanadu, comes out this Thursday. But Kick's respect of the past doesn't mean his rig is behind the times, as it's strong enough to 3D model and game alike. Kick took some time to tell us about his computer, show off his full shelves, and why his favorite game is a three way tie.

What's the most interesting/unique part of your setup?

It can handle 20 million poly Zbrush sculpts with ease and at the same time run any game I throw at it with max settings. I primarily built this PC for art and game development but it’s also an insane gaming PC.

Room and Couch

Click the arrows to expand.

What's always within arm's reach on your desk?

My guitar, my toys and all my art books. Sometimes I need to distract myself by transforming one of my favorite Decepticons. I find that if you ever run into a problem you can’t solve you should give yourself a simple unrelated challenge to think about for a while and the solution will come to you faster. Also, having a library of art books is a great way to find inspiration. Pick a random book, flip to a random page and you’ll always find something cool to influence your design or ideas.

The custom Max and Roshan plushie [seen on the couch] were made by my fiance' and current Night Dive CFO Alix Banegas. She's done a ton of video game plushies over the past few years.

What are you playing right now?

I am currently addicted to Dota 2, but I’ve also been playing Darkest Dungeon by Red Hook Studios. The art style, sound and overall design make this one of my all time favorites. I occasionally pop into Rocksmith during the day and learn a few new songs.

What's your favorite game and why?

It’s a three way tie between System Shock 2, Dishonored and Beyond Good and Evil. I feel like these are perfect examples of how art, design, sound, and story are all perfectly balanced into some of the greatest experiences you can have in games. They each created a world so alive and immersive that even years after playing them I reminisce about the time I spent there. The derelict halls of the Von Braun haunt me, the plagued infested alleys of Dunwall send shivers up my spine and I can almost feel the sun warm my skin on the planet Hillys.